Box and hinge structure



May 11, 1943. 1-:- G- HEMPEL 2,318,608

BOX ANDHINGE STRUCTURE Filed May 17, 1939 INVENTOR: B? EDWIN G. HEMPEL.

ATTORNEYS Patented May 11, 1943 UNIT ED STAT PATENT OFFICE BQX AND-HINGESTRUGTURE Edwin G. 'I'Iem'pel, Cranst'on, R. vv1., assignor to Gorh'am Manufacturing Company, Providence, R. I., a 'corpor'atio'nof Rhode Island Application May 17, 1939., Serial No. 274,168

4 Claims.

The .present invention relates to hinges, and =ooxes and containers intended to have covers hinged thereto, and particularlyinvolves the'type of hinge in which two hinge leaVes 'aretnot :only connected by the usual hinge pin'but also have special facilities for attaching the same to :the box and its cover.

The main object of my invention is to produce a box and cover with one or more .hingeswhich can be very quickly and easily fixed :in place without rivets, pins, screws or cement or any kind.

Another object is to have such abox-and'cover with a hinge which despite the ease withwhi'ch it is applied, is rigidly secured in placewh'enapplied properly, so as to be proof againstza'ccidental In order to facilitate ready comprehension :of

my invention, the same :is illustrated in lth laccompanying drawing forming :part :hereof, sand-in whichfig. 1 is a perspective viewof a box-with cover and equipped with hinges, embodyingthe invention in practical form.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, exploded, fragmentary view of part of the box andcover withone hinge of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan 'view of the :parts of-Fig.:2 in assembled condition.

Fig. 4 is a section of theopen hingealone of Fig. 3 as taken on line 4-4.

Fig. 5 15a similar View showing the ihingeiin closed condition.

Throughout the views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or:like parts. In the practice of my invention, a bo-x l 'of plastic or other material has a 1 cover -z. of similar material, both having their I rear walls 3 a and 4 provided with recesses '5] 5, 6, '6,-respec'tively; with reinforcements 1, 1 8,8, aboutsaid'recesses. At the ends of theserecesses, thereinforcementsare undercut so as virtually "to form 'narrow'extensions of the recesses at 9, HI, 9, |0,"etc.,which are capable'of serving a purpose presently to"bed'escribed.

In order to connect the cover with th box proper a special hinge generally indicated at H is so constructed as to cooperate with the reinforced recesses just described and consists 'primarily of :two leaves 1 '2, 1:3 which. are .connected-by the pivoting :pin :14 in the usual manner and havean -arcuate spring ":l 5 with the ends thereof hooked into apair'of slotted portions II 6,, Ir! in'ithe leaves! 2 and 13 respectively. -It-.is obvious from this construction that when the ends orthe spring cross the center forming the theoretical axis-pf *pinsl i soas?to'o1ccupy the positions shownfm. gs. 1 through '14, :said spring will dsend to retain the :hinge in open position, while-.on-theother-hand, if the hinge is closed by closing the eover:so that the spring crosses the central.- axis -;of ipi-n 4-4 with :a resultthat the hinge appears :as in Fig. 1 5., itis e'quallyzzobvious that the spring fwill tend toikeep the :hinge in this closed :position and thus rtend :tokeep the cover 'fO'f the box-closed. In 'Eigsn and 25, :all other structrure except the :hinge thas purposely been :omitted :in order-.410 .reveal. thedetails a-ndvfeaturestof the ,hinge'ras clearly-22.5 pmsible in both positions, with respectto-the operationiof'the spring.

Upon the upper leaf l2 of the hinge is-an-eanchoring member :or "lug 48 terminating at both ends .in --wedging iugs [=9 and 20, aand similar :fashion, the .lower rleaf l '3 V has; an ranchoring lug =2il zterminatingrat both endsinwedging .lugs 22, 23, :the iwedging =1ugs in-eachwease-rbeinge out free 'f-rom the leaf to WhiCh:Qn 1-ylthe. mairr centralportions :ofthe anchoring lugs are attached. -'-Ihese "anchoringmembers rare talso bentaatean-ia gleeof approximately 30 51110126 or 1less; with frespect 410 the-:generalgplane pf ztheileaveseinvolved. -When a hinge such iasziust rdescribedgisrto b ,placed .jn position, sit isfloutnetessary zto, slide the lower-leaf 1:3 down'sinto recess: 5 :of the backewall 3 0f3113h8 box'with the :ends of theuleafi preferably extending finto thezrecess extensions, or iundercut; ordaion B and HL-whereafter, the endszzhandrz are forced .zdown runtil :they -zengage very lreavily againstthe sinner: ends of :the {reinforcements-l- ,of the: recess 5; and Iit will be Efoundrthatrthe lean.- l-.3 will :be isecurely held cinisaid recess eagainst accidental :removaLtaszany attempt rto pulhleaf 113 of the thinge idiIBOtlY'AIDJ-OHUZOI a-sai-d recess will merely.- wedge Lends 2.2 .anda2'3fmore-firmlyi against the endsrofisai'dzrecess. ';I%hen,einc1:der .tosconne'ctl'lthe ICOlZl', :the leaf i152 sis-rs'lid zinto' recess'sii preferably withithe errdsmf-lthe aleafislidingiinto the extensionsi'l'and lfl formingtheundercutportions of the recess in reinforcement 8--cifsaid'recess "*6 "-un'til "the anchoring *meniber -stiikes -=the reinforcementpaf-ter whi'lrwe'dging lugs I S- and 2'0*are" forced 'down so' as to wedge-very strongly againstthe'inner ends ofrthe' reinforcement in said recess. PIt 'willthen betfound thattthehinge is enectively' assembled and secured in place, connecting the cover with thebox in properhinged relation, so that spring I5 will be efiective to tend to retain the box open when the cover has been open and will tend to retain the cover closed after closure of the same by hand. In order to make the wedging effect of the wedging lugs more decided, the ends thereof are cut off diagonally so as to present a point, as for example, at 24 in the case of wedging lug 23 in Figs. 2 and 3. The points thus produced will, of course, tend to enter into the very material of the reinforcements and prevent the ends of the wedging lugs from slipping out of engagement with the ends of the recess reinforcements, while the latter serve thus to reinforce the walls 3 and 4 of the box and cover so that the same will not be weakened or injured in any manner by the expansive wedging pressure of the hinges.

Obviously, the hinge may be made of any material, such as sheet iron, stainless steel, bronze,

brass, aluminum, or any alloy or metal whatsoever which will serve for making a good hinge, while the box and cover may also be made of any material desired, although in the present case we prefer to make the box of plastic material such as of cellulose acetate, or other cellulosic derivative, phenol or urea formaldehyde declaim:

1. In a hinge structure for a box and a cover having the rear portions of the box proper and the cover provided with corresponding recesses :or open pocket portions with upright end walls and extending respectively down upon the rear portion of the box toward the bottom thereof and up upon the rear portion of the cover with the recesses fully open throughout the extent of their respective depth or height, the combination, with a pair of pivotally connected flat leaves individually fitted into and retained in said recesses. of an anchoring portion upon the outer edge of each leaf extending integrally at substantially a right angle thereto in general parallelism with the bottom and toward the interior of '-the box or the top of the cover, as the case may be. and having the ends of each anchoring portion terminating in two oppositely and substantially longitudinally extending wedging lugs for wedging directly against the two opposite upright end walls of the recess involved exteriorly of the leaf proper therein exposed to the interior,

of the box and cover so as to tend toward being aligned with the remaining portion of the respective anchoring member from which they extend in extreme wedged position of said lugs in order to hold the hinge in assembled relation with the box and cover. 2. In a hinge structure for a box and a cove having the rear portions of the box proper and the cover provided with corresponding recesses or open pocket portions with upright end walls and extending respectively down upon the rear portion of the box toward the bottom thereof and up upon the rear portion of the cover with the recesses fully open throughout the extent of their respective depth or height, the combination, with a pair of pivotally connected flat leaves individually fitted into and retained in said recesses, of an anchoring portion upon the outer edge of each leaf extending integrally at substantially a right angle thereto in general parallelism with the bottom and toward the interior of the box or the top of the cover, as the case may be, and having the ends of each anchoring portion terminating in two oppositely extending wedging lugs for wedging against the opposite upright end walls of the recess involved so as to tend toward being aligned with the remaining portion of the anchoring member in extreme wedged position of said lugs in order to hold the hinge in assembled relation with the box and cover, the extreme outer ends of the wedging lugs being cut so as to present a point upon each lug directly against the upright end walls of each recess exposed to the interior of said box and cover in order to increase the effectiveness of the initial engagement of each lug with its respective end wall.

3. In a hinge structure for a box and a cover and the rear portions of the box proper and the cover provided with corresponding recesses or open pocket portions with upright end walls and extending respectively down upon the rear portion of the box toward the bottom thereof and up upon the rear portion of the cover with the recesses fully open throughout the extent of their respective depth or height, the combination, with a pair of pivotally connected flat leaves individually fitted into and retained in said recesses, of an anchoring portion upon the outer edge of each leaf extending integrally at substantially a right angle thereto in general parallelism with the bottom and toward the interior of the box or the top of the cover, as the case may be, and having the ends of each anchoring portion terminating in two oppositely extending wedging lugs for wedging against the opposite upright end walls of the recess involved so as to tend toward being aligned with the remaining portion of the anchoring member in extreme wedged position of said lugs in order to hold the hinge in assembled relation with the box and cover, and the anchoring member upon each leaf of said hinge lying upon an open bottom of the respective recess in which it is located in substantial parallelism with the bottom of the box or the top of the cover, as the case may be, and the oppositely extending wedging lugs forming'the end terminations of each anchoring member being out free at their sides from the leaf involved so as to be capable of the mentioned wedging action directly against the upright end walls of their respective recesses independently of said leaf and exposed to the interior of the box and cover.

4. A hinge structure according to claim 1, having the hinge leaf in each recess extending at both ends into correspondingly opposite blind undercut portions of the recess independently of and Within the wedging lugs with the two opposite end walls immediately outside of the undercut recess portions retaining said leaf, the ends of each leaf which extend into said recess portions cooperating with the wedging lugs in locating each lug in wedging position and retaining each leaf rigidly in place in its respective recess.

EDWIN G. HEMPEL. 

